Many of us have been involved in the VW scene for years, if not decades, so it’s no surprise when we stumble upon enthusiasts who have owned their air-cooled VW for 20 or so years. But the herd certainly thins out when trying to find someone who bought their car in the ’80s, and still own it today.
The story you’re about to read is one such tale though, for Silver Rodriguez of San Pedro, California bought this ’67 in 1982, and it looks so good today that it was chosen as one of the cars to represent the Gathering of Hot VWs at the 2022 Grand National Roadster Show.
Unlike some of the ‘survivor’ cars that were on display there, though, the orange Bug has evolved since its first custom inception, so let’s travel back to 1982 to see how the project came about.
It all started when 15-year-old Silver visited an
